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Brunschvicg, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Brunschvicg, Léon lāôNˈ brünˈshvēk [key], 1869–1944, French philosopher, b. Paris. From 1909 until his death he taught at the Sorbonne. Brunschvicg's philosophy, which has had considerable in...

Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de zhôrzh lwē ləklĕrkˈ kôNt də büfôNˈ [key], 1707–88, French naturalist and author. From 1739 he was keeper of the Jardin du Roi (later the Jardin des ...

Viardot-Garcia, Pauline

(Encyclopedia)Viardot-Garcia, Pauline pōlēnˈ vyärdōˈ-gärsēäˈ [key], 1821–1910, French mezzo-soprano; sister of Maria Malibran; pupil of her father, Manuel García. Following her concert debut in Brussel...

Malraux, André

(Encyclopedia)Malraux, André äNdrāˈ mälrōˈ [key], 1901–76, French man of letters and political figure. An intellectual with a broad knowledge of archaeology, art history, and anthropology, Malraux led a re...

Robbe-Grillet, Alain

(Encyclopedia)Robbe-Grillet, Alain älăNˈ rôb-grēyāˈ [key], 1922–2008, French novelist and filmmaker, b. Brest. Robbe-Grillet is considered the originator of the French nouveau roman [new novel], in which c...

Melun

(Encyclopedia)Melun məlöNˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 36,489), capital of Seine-et-Marne dept., N central France, SE of Paris. It is an important industrial center where automobile bodies, airplane engines, leather ...

Montalvo, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Montalvo, Juan hwän môntälˈvō [key], 1832–89, Ecuadorean essayist and political writer. A champion of liberalism and a master of political invective, he showered fiery anathemas on the tyrant G...

Maistre, Xavier de

(Encyclopedia)Maistre, Xavier de də mĕsˈtrə [key], 1763–1852, French writer, b. Savoy; brother of Joseph de Maistre. He served in the Russian army and lived most of his life in St. Petersburg. His works are ...

Lwoff, André

(Encyclopedia)Lwoff, André äNdrāˈ ləwôfˈ [key], 1902–94, French microbiologist, b. Ainay-le-Château, Allier dept., central France, of Russian-Polish origin. He was educated in France and in 1925 began a l...

Lifar, Serge

(Encyclopedia)Lifar, Serge sĕrˈgā lēˈfär [key], 1905–86, Russian dancer, choreographer, director, teacher, and dance historian, b. Kiev. Lifar studied briefly with Bronislava Nijinska, but he was primarily ...